UK Named the Top Gambling Nation in Europe

The European Casino Association (ECA) recently released its first ECA European Casino Industry Report. This authoritative report provides a complete overview of the entire European casino industry. Acquiring information from all of its member states, the report looks at trends in the casino industry, and which countries performed particularly well during the surveyed period.

The first ECA European Casino Industry Report must be viewed in the context of significant economic troubles across Europe. As austerity hits the pockets of the average European, many nations’ casinos saw revenue slump, or at least significantly decline in 2012/3. But there were still some success stories, as several countries’ casino industries were able to report decent inclines in trade.

Among these successful nations was Denmark. The Scandinavian nation operates a relatively small casino industry, with six casinos in the entire nation. Nonetheless, in the survey period, Denmark’s six casinos saw their gross gaming revenues grow by 3.6 percent, from €55m to a total of €57m; not to be sniffed at given the issues experienced elsewhere within Europe.

The second country to achieve significant success according to the ECA report was Estonia. The eastern European nation managed to attract more punters into its casinos in 2012 than in the previous year, and those that did attend casinos staked significantly more money. No less than 720,000 punters visited Estonia’s casinos in 2012, 20,000 (2.9 percent) more than the previous year. Meanwhile, total casino revenue in the nation grew 8.3 percent to €52m, on the back of significant growth in slot revenue.

But the big success story in the casino industry in the surveyed period was unquestionably the United Kingdom. Britain is the third largest economy in Europe, and thus always a critical market for any industry. Well, it certainly seems that in the case of casinos things are progressing extremely well.

The UK Casino market is vastly different to that of Denmark, with a total of 146 casinos and two licensed card clubs operating in the UK. If gambling could be said to be part of British culture, then the ECA reports suggest that this remains very much the case with regards to the casino industry.

In 2012, UK’s casinos saw total revenues of £872m, nearly 10 percent more than in the previous year. This was an across the board rise, as both table games and slots performed extremely well in the British Isles. Furthermore, over 18 million people visited casinos in Britain, an approximate 5 percent rise on the previous year, and the establishments were even able to employ over 14,000 staff, which represented a 6.6 percent year on year increase.

The figures are quite clear; even in an economic slump, the British casino industry is flourishing, and the standout success story across the whole of Europe.

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